By Cole Veri, ’15
Although Mac DeMarco is less than impressive with his appearance and slacker rock attitude, his album Salad Days must not go unnoticed. DeMarco, 24, is a Canadian musician with a style described as “blue wave”, an alternative genre. This growing teen icon released his album “Salad Days” on April 1, 2014 under the recording studio Captured Tracks. Receiving a rating of 82/100 from MetaCritic, DeMarco’s album has sprung him into a sudden rush of popularity, with only more to come. With an MSRP of $12.99, a Salad Days CD might just creep it’s way on to some Christmas lists during this holiday season.
Mac DeMarco is a slacker rock hero with a unique sound. Interestingly enough, he wrote, recorded, and mixed the album all in 30 days. In an interview with SFgate he admitted to locking himself in his room for a month to avoid disturbances while trying to record. “I went out and bought a rug so I could sit on the floor, bought a coffee machine and bought some noodle packs” he said. He had ideas and he wouldn’t stop until he got them out one way or another. The sound DeMarco was able to capture is unique to say the least. Songs like “Chamber of Reflection” and “Passing out Pieces” give off a sound only to be described as an electronic organ. Others like “Salad Days” have a soft rock sound, however DeMarco mixes it in a way that surprises the listener.
Following his debut album, “2”, DeMarco decided to only write songs that meant something to him. Clearly, he wasn’t kidding. He starts off the album with the first song titled “Salad Days”, which the album was named after. The song is a combination of the realization that he is growing up and the longing for the answers as to what comes next. He demonstrates this through the lyrics “Missing hippy John, salad days are gone”. Other songs on the album focus heavily on the relationship between Mac and his girlfriend of four years. Tracks like “Let My Baby Stay”, “Treat Her Better”, and “Let Her Go” all deal with his idea of love and how love influences his life. Overall, the album can be classified to have two overarching themes, either it’s DeMarco dishing out advice about love or life in general, or him in deep reflection searching for answers.
“Salad Days” captures such a unique sound, making it hard to draw a distinct comparison. However, Real Estate, Foxygen, and Tame Impala all are listed as similar musicians online. That being said, it’s hard to find someone as unique as Mac DeMarco. His uniqueness comes from his influences John Lennon, The Beach Boys, and The Beatles, all of which Mac grew up listening to.
DeMarco has impressed critics all over the country with his album that is now up for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize. “Salad Days” is an impressive piece of music that is truly art. What makes it more impressive is that it was done in 30 days, showing the artists true dedication to his work. For gift givers all around, a good stocking stuffer can be found in DeMarcos “Salad Days”.
Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone